There are going to be many months ahead for more thorough analysis of what Team Canada's Olympic entry should look like, but here's a little cheat sheet with which to watch this week's goings on at the orientation camp. Keep in mind that these categories don't reflect my choices for the team — they merely indicate where I think players slot in in the minds of the selection committee:

In short, this is a team that's set in goal, has a few pillars up front and a lot of decisions to be made on the back end. And keep in mind that what happens in the first couple months of the season could have a big impact on the decisions made.

Today's the big day. Forty-six NHLers are in Calgary for a little Olympics-related shinny, and you better believe all of the hockey coverage this week is going to centre on who's there and what they're doing.

Me, I'm not overly excited about the whole exercise, as we're still months from Steve Yzerman having to pick a team, but I did sit in for a few minutes on Hockey Canada's conference call on Friday. President Bob Nicholson was asked, essentially, what's this camp for?

What's the one or two things that you most want to learn from this camp?

I think what we want to learn, I guess, is making sure that the players get to know each other better. We've got a lot of young players here, that haven't met some of the veteran players, we want them to be at ease with them. Remember, when we go into the Olympic Games in Vancouver, those players will fly in, will have one practice and then we play. So better that they get to know each other (now) ... on the logistical side, from the security, how to handle the Olympics, apparrel fitting, there's a whole bunch of that information, that'll all get done. So, there's a lot there, and on-ice is important, but it certainly isn't the only thing we're looking at.

In other words, it's a meet and greet with some jersey sizing thrown inbetween.

Not exactly edge of your seat stuff.

For the curious, here's a look at the two rosters Hockey Canada will use for the on-ice portion of the camp (note that Team White has more likely Olympians on it). Ryan Getzlaf is sitting this part out given he's coming off surgery, and Jason Spezza's been named in his place. And, as noted earlier, for some reason Andy McDonald, Derek Roy et al are there instead of Marc Savard.

The No. 1 thing that I think this team needs to sort out over the next couple days is what system the coaching staff will use. Given Mike Babcock's in charge, it'll be pretty interesting to see if Canada attempts to play a Red Wings type puck control game.

He's got the cast in order to try and replicate what Detroit does, that's for sure.

More photos » by Winslow Townson - AP

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Hockey Canada announced on Thursday the roster of 46 players that will attend Canada’s National Men’s Team orientation camp from August 24-27 in Calgary. These 46 players have been identified as candidates for upcoming international events in the 2009-10 season: the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and 2010 IIHF World Championship.

>> press release

Here was the team I put together back in February as part of a one-year preview, picks that likely have changed a little given players' performance in the postseason (Staal and Ward from the 'Canes come to mind). Below is the list of camp invitees, with my team selections marked in bold:

Goaltenders (5)
Martin Brodeur (Montreal, Que./New Jersey, NHL)           
Marc-Andre Fleury (Sorel, Que./Pittsburgh, NHL)
Roberto Luongo (Montreal, Que./Vancouver, NHL)          
Steve Mason (Oakville, Ont./Columbus, NHL)
Cam Ward (Sherwood Park, Alta./Carolina, NHL)

Defencemen (16)
Francois Beauchemin (Sorel, Que./Anaheim, NHL)        
Jay Bouwmeester (Edmonton, Alta./Calgary, NHL)
Dan Boyle (Ottawa, Ont./San Jose, NHL)                      
Brent Burns (Ajax, Ont./Minnesota, NHL)
Drew Doughty (London, Ont./Los Angeles, NHL)             
Mike Green (Calgary, Alta./Washington, NHL)
Dan Hamhuis (Smithers, B.C./Nashville, NHL)                 
Duncan Keith (Penticton, B.C./Chicago, NHL)
Scott Niedermayer (Cranbrook, B.C./Anaheim, NHL)       
Dion Phaneuf (Edmonton, Alta./Calgary, NHL)
Chris Pronger (Dryden, Ont./Philadelphia, NHL)             
Robyn Regehr (Rosthern, Sask./Calgary, NHL)
Stephane Robidas (Sherbrooke, Que./Dallas, NHL)         
Brent Seabrook (Tsawwassen, B.C./Chicago, NHL)
Marc Staal (Thunder Bay, Ont./N.Y. Rangers, NHL)          
Shea Weber (Sicamous, B.C./Nashville, NHL)

Forwards (25)
Jeff Carter (London, Ont./Philadelphia, NHL)                
Dan Cleary (Carbonear, N.L./Detroit, NHL)
Sidney Crosby (Cole Harbour, N.S./Pittsburgh, NHL)        
Shane Doan (Halkirk, Alta./Phoenix, NHL)
Simon Gagne (Ste-Foy, Que./Philadelphia, NHL)             
Ryan Getzlaf (Regina, Sask./Anaheim, NHL)
Dany Heatley (Calgary, Alta./Ottawa, NHL)                   
Jarome Iginla (St. Albert, Alta./Calgary, NHL)
Vincent Lecavalier (Île-Bizard, Que./Tampa Bay, NHL)   
Milan Lucic (Vancouver, B.C./Boston, NHL)
Patrick Marleau (Aneroid, Sask./San Jose, NHL)             
Andy McDonald (Strathroy, Ont./St. Louis, NHL)
Brenden Morrow (Carlyle, Sask./Dallas, NHL)                
Rick Nash (Brampton, Ont./Columbus, NHL)
Corey Perry (Peterborough, Ont./Anaheim, NHL)            
Mike Richards (Kenora, Ont./Philadelphia, NHL)
Derek Roy (Rockland, Ont./Buffalo, NHL)                      
Joe Sakic (Burnaby, B.C./Colorado, NHL)
Patrick Sharp (Thunder Bay, Ont./Chicago, NHL)            
Ryan Smyth (Banff, Alta./Colorado, NHL)
Martin St. Louis (Laval, Que./Tampa Bay, NHL)               
Eric Staal (Thunder Bay, Ont./Carolina, NHL)
Jordan Staal (Thunder Bay, Ont./Pittsburgh, NHL)          
Joe Thornton (St. Thomas, Ont./San Jose, NHL)
Jonathan Toews (Winnipeg, Man./Chicago, NHL)

Noteworthy omissions: Marc Savard

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Last week, exactly one year from the next Winter Olympics, I put together my picks for Team Canada. This week, onto some of the other teams.

The U.S. is going to be an underdog in Vancouver, there's no question, but don't let anyone tell you this isn't a strong team. The Americans have underperformed at quite a few of the last major international tournaments, however, and as a result, I don't think they get the credit they deserve as a legitimate medal contender.

There is a ton of excellent young talent coming out of the U.S. system, and four or five years down the line they're going to consistently be one of the top 3-4 countries in the world.

And now they've even got a Vezina-calibre goaltender to put between the pipes.

Forwards

Parise - Stastny - Langenbrunner
Booth - Kessel - Kane
Brown - Kesler - Ryan
Modano - Gomez - Drury
x- Pominville

Those who say the U.S. doesn't have a lot of depth haven't looked at forwards who wouldn't make the team. I'm leaving out Jason Blake, Pavelski, Gionta, Stafford, Wheeler, Malone, Legwand, O'Sullivan, Rolston, Umberger, Okposo, Mueller, Oshie, Stempniak, Cole, Tkachuk, Cullen, Weight, Connolly, etc., etc.

No, that's not depth like the Canadian squad has, but compared to a country like Finland, or even Russia, which will both rely on non-NHLers in the Olympic tournament, it's impressive.

The top-end talent is coming, too. Parise's one of the league's top goal scorers (and has excellent chemistry with Langenbrunner, who would make a good captain), Kesler's a terrific defensive centre (and the perfect player to stick on the third line here in a shutdown role), and Kane and Ryan are emerging as top snipers in their early 20s. 

They can score goals, and with the old World Cup '96 guard out of the way, they'll be a handful for a lot of teams.

Defencemen

Ballard - Rafalski
Martin - J. Johnson
Suter - Komisarek
x- Gilbert

If there's a weakness on the U.S. team, this is it. That said, players like Ballard, Martin and Gilbert are all incredibly underrated in the NHL and could finally get some overdue kudos in a best-on-best tournament.

I'm leaving out the likes of Ryan Whitney, Liles, Corvo, Niskanen, Carle and Erik Johnson, who could also be in the mix.

Goalies

Thomas
Miller
x- Conklin

The decision here is easier than the one Canada has to make. Thomas and Miller have both been terrific this season, with one the Vezina favourite and the other a dark horse candidate.

You can call Thomas a flash in the pan all you want, but over the past two seasons, he's had the top save percentage in the NHL among goaltenders with at least 60 games played.

And Mr. Conklin's No. 3.

Coaches: Honestly, I'd take Bruce Boudreau if he'd do it. If not, go with the top hockey mind from the NHL who doesn't opt to work with the Canadian team. There's nothing stipulating the coach needs to be American to lead this team, and after some high-profile disappointments, USA Hockey would do well to bring in fresh blood. Unheralded people like Claude Julien, Barry Trotz or even Randy Carlyle or John Stevens would be good choices. 

Limiting their coaching staff to only Americans might not be the best way to go, and many "Canadians" behind the bench have spent their playing and coaching careers in the U.S. anyway.

It's painful, I know. But if the Team Canada brass really wants to see an improvement on the Olympic ice one year from now, they've got to think back to 2006 and the team that went to Turin.

It was old, and slow, and that season's sixth-leading scorer in the NHL, Sidney Crosby, was at home while Kris Draper and friends wore the Maple Leaf.

It's interesting that, in almost every other Olympic sport, the athletes are picked based on how they fare in trials. Put up the best time, or score, a few months before the big event and you make the team. Heck, the curling teams will be facing each other right up until mid-December in play downs, battling to be the best.

And that, in my mind, is what they have to do in hockey. Select the best players right at that moment and forget about the "automatics," naming players who are supposed shoe-ins simply because they've gone before. Sure, some veteran savvy is nice, but what the team really needs is the hottest 23 players in the world all on one club.

With all apologies to Bert and Jovo.

Keeping that in mind, here's my Team Canada selections on the one-year pre-versary of the 2010 opening ceremonies:

Forwards

Nash - Crosby - Iginla
Marleau - Thornton - Carter
Lecavalier - Getzlaf - Doan
M. Richards - Savard - Heatley
x- Horcoff

Your mileage may vary on the 13th forward, and I've left off some pretty good scorers in Staal, Toews, Morrow and Perry. Horcoff brings a solid all-round game that you could pretty much plug in anywhere, and I think you need a few guys who play big PK minutes in the NHL.

Given the way they've played together this season, teaming up Marleau and Thornton should be a no-brainer, while the top line forwards are all a lock. Will be interesting to see what Crosby can do with some world-class wingers.

The problem, as always, is too many centres and not enough wings, and I don't know off the top of my head who here would be the most amenable to a position change for a short period of time like this. Richards likely wouldn't have a problem with it, while someone like Lecavalier might work well with two other big bodies like Getzlaf and Doan.

Defencemen

Bouwmeester - Boyle
Keith - Green
Niedermayer - Pronger
x- Regehr

Tough decisions on the back end, but I think you've got to go with some youth. Bouwmeester-Boyle would likely be the quickest pairing we've ever seen, while Keith, Pronger and Regehr can handle a lot of the defensive duties. Niedermayer and Green would be interesting together on the power play.

I'm leaving out Phaneuf and Weber, but both will likely get a lot of consideration. I don't know if "big shot from the point" is exactly a necessity given the firepower others are bringing to this team.

Goaltenders

Brodeur
Luongo
x- Smith

Going with who's hot doesn't really work in goal, which is a tough position to pick at this point given Brodeur and Luongo have both missed so much time.

The top Canadian netminder in terms of wins this season is Marty Turco, who really struggled early on, followed by Cam Ward, Jose Theodore, Steve Mason and Marc-Andre Fleury. It'd be tough to pick any of them over Brodeur and Luongo.

I've pencilled in Mike Smith in the third spot just because he's young and has had a pretty solid season. Despite his struggles this season, Carey Price likely gets a ton of support for that role.

Coaches: Mike Babcock, Todd McLellan, Brent Sutter

Feel free to post your own teams below or in FanPosts. I'll try and do a look at some of the other countries' rosters over the next week or so.